Historical Setting: 793 C.E. Jutland
The seiðr tells me that the story on this stone tells of the death of the god Odin.
“It’s well-known. It is marked on this stone as a picture of an often-shared story, so you don’t even need to know the runes to know this story.”
The whole face of this rock is one picture. I imagine, were this made by monks it would be a full page of art that separates gospel from gospel, all made to share a common symbol and maybe to show off the skill of the artist. As with the illuminated gospel page, it is a story for the illiterate.
I see the seiðr brings me to see this first as one illustrated here. It has a certain simple beauty: a frail little fellow with a bird on his head and a monstrous fanged creature gnawing at his foot, maybe even devouring him.
“This is the creator god, Odin. He is shown many ways, but I know it is Odin because he has a raven. Footnote 1 He is considered the god of gods.” She explains.
“So, this creator god is all goodness, and yet being devoured here?”
“Of course not. Why would you think that? There is no goodness or badness among the gods. They are gods.”
“If he is the creator is that not good?”
“You are so deep in such the Christian thing to look only for goodness or evil.”
“He hardly appears all-powerful here, skinny fellow being devoured by a beast.”
“The wolf that eats Odin is Fenrir.” She explains, and she places her omniscient first finger exactly on the fang.
“What does that mean that a wolf devours a god? Oh, wait. I think I know this story. The wolf is Rome?” [Footnote]
“It is so Christian of you to say that. You say that just because Rome devoured the Christian god.”
“It is an obvious symbol since it is said that the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves.”
Of course I would assume the wolf is an ancient symbol for Rome. But personally, the actual wolves I’ve known have no taste for gods, or even any desire for the meat of a human man.”
She ignores my reference and lectures on. “This story is clear and simple. It is told many ways in many places, and always it is an important story. That’s why I brought you here before we look at the more complicated tales?”
She leads me on to another stone with abundant markings.
Footnote 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledberg_stone retrieved 11-23-24
Footnote 2: (https://carlos.emory.edu/htdocs/ODYSSEY/ROME/romulus.html) Retrieved 6-15-24, a succinct telling of the foundation myth of Rome, which apparently, eluded Laz groping for a familiar symbol
(Continues Tuesday, February 25)
Lazarus Ink 